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On Thursday, Mellow said of the port commission, “It’s looking like they are finally going to entertain this step.”

Still, he said, he remains skeptical.

“I’ll believe it when I see it,” he said.

Mello also called the port vote “curious timing,” given the City Council will hold a hearing about interim regulations for the Tideflats on Tuesday with a possible vote the next week.

The regulations would temporarily require more scrutiny and wider notification for fossil fuel or chemical projects on the Tideflats.

Port Commission President Dick Marzano said he wanted the commission to be on the record about its opposition to international fossil fuel export projects on port-owned land.

“We’ve told the public time and time again,” he said Thursday. “The port’s never been in the business of exporting fossil fuels.”

Years ago, a coal export company wanted to do business on port land, but was turned away. Turning down such business “doesn’t take away from what the port is doing, now or in the future,” Marzano said.

The commission will discuss the policy shift at its Tuesday (Nov. 14) meeting. It could formally adopt it during a Dec. 21 meeting.

Melissa Malott, executive director for Citizens for a Healthy Bay, said she’s glad to see the resolution.

“We are glad to see them listen to the community, and it would be great to see it go beyond port-owned property on the Tideflats,” she said.

The interim regulations the City Council will discuss next week would restrict fossil fuel and industrial uses on the entirety of the Tideflats, of which the port owns a fraction.

“I would hope the City Council would realize what we are not going to do and at the same time realize maybe these regulations are not necessary,” Marzano said.

On Thursday, Mello noted the city regulates use of the property, not the port.

The port and city have talked off and on for more than a year about a wide-ranging land-use document, called a subarea plan, for the Tideflats. It can take more than a year to create such a plan.

Mello said the interim regulations are intended to be temporary until the city crafts the subarea plan.

“We will continue to change land use (regulations) to protect the community more permanently,” Mello said.